Three Dimensional Virtual Worlds Research Trends and Future Directions

Use of three-dimensional virtual world platforms has been increasing worldwide. These online multi-user spaces, where users move and interact in a simulated three-dimensional spaces, provide many opportunities for learning and teaching process. Educators worldwide have been experimenting to use these technologies by investing on research and development. The purpose of this study is to analyze research trends in three-dimensional virtual world literature. The results of the study will provide a roadmap to the researchers and educators who wants to use these environments for an educational purposes

Üç boyutlu sanal dünyalar: eğitimciler için yol haritası

Dünya çapında, üç boyutlu sanal dünya platformlarının kullanımı her geçen gün artmaktadır. Internet üzerinden çok kullanıcılı bir ortamda üç-boyutlu etkileşimin mümkün olduğu bu platformlar öğrenme-öğretme sürecine birçok fayda sağlamaktadır. Eğitimciler, araştırma ve geliştirmeye büyük miktarda zaman ve mali yatırım yaparak bu ortamların sunduğu imkânlardan yararlanmaya çalışmaktadır. Bu sunumun amacı, ülkemizde bu ortamları eğitim amaçlı kullanmak isteyen eğitimcilere bilgi vermek ve tasarım prensiplerini sunarak bir yol haritası oluşturulması amaçlanmaktadır.Use of three dimensional virtual world platforms has been increasing worldwide. These online multiuser spaces where users move and interact in simulated 3D spaces, provide many opportunities for learning and teaching process. Educators are trying to get the benefit of these 3D technologies by investing large amounts of time and financial resources in research and development. The purpose of this presentation is to provide information to the educators who wants to use virtual worlds for education purposes and to provide them a roadmap to by presenting design principles

Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Eğitimi Bölümü Akademisyenler Tarafından Nasıl Tanımlanıyor?

Öğretim teknolojileri 1960'lı yıllardan beri kullanılmakta olan ve zamanla farklı şekillerde tanımlanmış bir kavramdır. Bilgi ve iletişim teknolojileri okullarda daha yaygın hale geldiğinden dolayı teknoloji konusunda donanımlı öğretmen ihtiyacı da artmıştır. Dünyada öğretim teknolojileri programları genel olarak lisansüstü düzeyde yer alırken, Türkiye'de ise lisansüstü programlara ek olarak lisans düzeyinde Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Eğitimi(BÖTE) programları mevcuttur. Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Eğitimi Bölümü, 1998 yılında eğitim fakültelerinin yeniden yapılandırılması sürecinde kurulmuştur. Bu çalışmanın amacı, BÖTE Bölümlerinde görev yapmakta olan öğretim üyeleriyle, bu bölümde lisansüstü eğitimlerine devam eden öğrencilerin bölümü nasıl tanımladıklarını, bölümün mevcut durumu ile ilgili görüşleri ve bölümden beklentileri arasındaki benzerlik ve farklılıkları araştırmaktır. Araştırma durum çalışması olarak gerçekleştirilmiş olup çalışmanın katılımcıları Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Gazi Üniversitesi ve Anadolu Üniversitesi gibi Türkiye'nin büyük üniversitelerinde çalışmakta ya da lisansüstü eğitimlerine devam etmekte olan beş öğretim üyesi ve beş lisansüstü öğrencisidir. Veri toplama aracı olarak yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde içerik analizi kullanılmış olup sonuçlar öğretim üyelerinin ve lisansüstü öğrencilerin bölümün kapsamı, beklenen yeterlilikler ve çalışma alanları ve akademik yaşantıyı etkileyen zorluklar bağlamında benzer görüşlere sahip olduklarını göstermiştir.The term Instructional Technology has been used since 1960s and defined differently throughout the time. Along with the increase in the use of information and communication technology in schools; the need for technologically qualified teachers has been increased. While many of instructional technology programs are at graduate level around the world; Turkey has an undergraduate level instructional technology program, called Computer Education and Instructional Technology (CEIT) in addition to graduate level. The department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology was founded in 1998 during the reconstruction of Faculties of Education in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to investigate the similarities and differences among how graduate students and faculty members define CEIT department, as well as their opinions on the current situation of the program, and their expectations. A case study has been conducted with 5 faculty members and 5 graduate students from three major universities in Turkey including Anadolu University, Gazi University , and Middle East Technical University. Semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection tool. The content analysis was used to analyze the data and results of the study showed that faculty members and graduate students have similar opinions about the scope of the department, expected qualifications and work areas, and challenges affecting academic life

3D learning environment for “conscious individuals & livable environment for elementary students

Virtual worlds are emerging technologies that offer collaborative learning environments for both synchronous and asynchronous distance education. Recently, there is an increasing demand for using 3D (three-dimensional) learning environments in all areas of education because of the affordances they provide for learning. Second Life is one of the virtual worlds developed by Linden Lab Company which gives the chance to users to interact with each other. Users make these interactions through avatars which are the virtual representations of the users. This paper will include information about the design and the development of the 3D virtual learning space in Second Life, “Recycle It”. The main purpose of this 3D virtual environment is to teach elementary level students the topics including “Recycling”, “Energy Saving” and “Conscious Consumption”. In the presentation, the process of the design and the development of the environment and the experiences that we gained will be presented

Insights of e-teach project: ETEC usage for expert and novice teachers

Today, most of the teachers are not yet able to use Educational Technology Equipped Classrooms (ETEC). Defining new generation teaching techniques in ETEC may fill the gap between the current requirements of students and abilities of the teachers. By defining new generation teaching methods with ETEC, the teaching skills of teachers might be improved parallel to today's technology. This would result in the fulfilment of the students' educational needs. So, the purpose of this study is to explore the interaction of instructional material and instructor with eye tracking teaching techniques and methods in ETEC to meet the training requirements of teachers. As it was reviewed and reported by Tien, Pucher, Sodergren, Sriskandarajah, Yang and Darzi (2014) eye tracking was used to detect differences in expert and novice behaviours of surgeons. Won-Jung, Jung-Ho, Il-Sun and Yong-Ju (2012) used the eye-tracking methodology in order to define eye gaze differences between expert and novice teachers, teaching in science classes. The skills and methods needed for teaching lessons in ETEC can be revealed by the comparison of the eye movement behaviours between expert (n=3) and novice teachers (n=3). At the same time, the teachers' beliefs, perceptions and opinions about effective teaching and learning strategies can create a base for interpretation of quantitative data coming from eye tracking analysis. Sequential explanatory mixed method design was selected as the research methodology and quantitative data were collected. The study has been conducted at a middle school in Ankara, which has ETEC in accordance with FATIH Project. 3 expert and 3 novice teachers have been used to collect data